1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feeding device for separately feeding sheets one by one to perform recording on the sheets and also relates to a recording apparatus including the feeding device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, recording apparatuses such as various printers and various facsimiles are each provided with a feeding device for separately feeding sheets of recording paper (hereinafter referred to as “paper”) stored in a hopper one by one. As to feeding devices, a horizontal type feeding device for holding sheets of paper in horizontal attitude and an inclination type feeding device for holding sheets of paper in inclination attitude are employed. Recently, recording apparatuses of inclination type capable of reducing entire installation space for recording apparatuses have increased.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,821 discusses a configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 11, including fixed inclined surfaces 222 provided on a paper cassette and movable inclined surfaces 225 that are selectively movable as a selecting mechanism of a separating inclined surface for separating sheets of paper one by one. According to this mechanism, the movable inclined surface 225 can move to a position where the movable inclined surface 225 is not in contact with sheets of paper upon separation of sheets of paper.
Japanese Patent No. 3908991 discusses a selecting mechanism of a serrated member for selectively using the serrated member as a separating member according to the type of paper. As illustrated in FIG. 12, according to the selecting mechanism of the serrated member, the movable unit 313 lifts up/down the serrated member 312 toward/away from the feeding path of paper P according to the type of paper P, and the serrated member 312 prevents double feed of the paper P. Thus, it is possible to improve separation performance by using the serrated member 312 when paper P has poor separation performance, and possible to prevent bending or damage on soft paper P or glossy paper caused by the serrated member 312.
However, the selecting mechanisms according to the above conventional techniques are operated by using a drive source that is different from a drive source used for feed operation, or by once switching a driving state from a driving state of feed operation to a driving state for driving the selecting mechanism of the separating member. Alternatively, the selecting mechanism is operated by detecting a phase (turning position) of a separating member and the like by a phase detecting unit, and by operating the selecting mechanism at the same time with feed operation in phase synchronization with feed operation.
When a selecting mechanism is operated by using a drive source that is different from a drive source used for feed operation, the different drive source and a control device configured to control two drive sources are required, which results in increased manufacturing cost. When a selecting mechanism is operated by switching transmission of driving force in the driving state of feed operation, preparing operation for switching transmission of driving force is required before feed operation, which requires some time. When the selecting mechanism is performed in phase synchronization with feed operation, a phase detecting unit configured to detect a phase of the separating member and the like is required, which results in increased manufacturing cost.